


Memories

by Doxi



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Family Feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-03-04
Packaged: 2018-03-16 07:43:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3480035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doxi/pseuds/Doxi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Greg remembers one of his big plans before Steven was born.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memories

Steven watched with boyish glee as the bulldozers tore down the remnants of the old house. It had been destroyed like nearly half of Beach City had been when Steven and the Gems defeated the Red Eye. The shards had smashed the house practically to smithereens. Now the townspeople were just finishing up the job.

“Bulldozers sure are cool, right dad?” Steven looked up from the fence rail he’d thrown himself over, legs kicking. It was Greg’s lack of enthusiasm that caused the boy to slowly slide off the rail like a bag full of sand. He landed on his backside with a soft ‘oof’. “Somethin’ wrong?”

“I just hate that they had to tear it down.” Greg explained, arms propped on the same railing. He held his chin in his hands and watched as the last bit of the structure finally came down. “It would have been nice to keep it standing.”

“But it was broken.” Steven blinked, looking back to the house trying to understand the importance of it all. “And no one’s lived in it.” Suddenly Steven felt a pang of sadness in his heart and pouted. “Aw, I bet it was really sad no one wanted to live in it.” 

Greg blinked. “Huh. I guess you were too young to remember, weren’t you?” He looked to his son, brows lifting with the realization. Steven looked up at his father with curious wonder.

“Remember what?” 

“We use to live in that house Steven, when you were a baby.”

“Whaaaaat!” Steven clambered back onto the fence with urgency. Eyes taking in the now destroyed remnants of his childhood home. He wondered if this is what Lonely Blade felt when he discovered his village had been destroyed in **Lonely Blade II: Electric Booga-fu**. “Aw man, now I’ll never get to see it.”

Steven’s pout only grew, his shoulders shoulders slumping. His view was briefly distorted when Greg ruffled his hair. 

“There wasn’t much left in there anyway. Just some old memories.”

“How come you didn’t live in there, Dad?” Steven asked, pushing the unruly curls that had fallen into his eyes back into place. Greg blinked and looked back to the plot. 

“I guess…” 

 

 

“What is it you want to show me?” 

Rose’s voice was warm and full of mirth. He walked with the careful guidance of Greg Universe who had insisted she not open her eyes.

“I told you, baby, it’s a surprise! So no peaking.”

Rose, who did not have it in her to be deceptive, opened just one eye but her gaze remained focused on Greg. He had been waiting for that, his head dipped low as a smirk played on his lips. The playful chastising of his tone was broken up only by Rose’s soft, serene laughter. “Hey, I see that.” They had stopped and Greg slipped his hand from her’s. “Doesn’t matter though, because—Wait wait hold on.“

Greg’s footsteps carried him a ways away from her, his excited panting making it easy to follow his movements without seeing him. “Drumroll please.” Greg announced, hands excitedly slapping on his thighs. Rose brought her hand to her mouth, hiding the smile the spread of her features. “And open your eyes Rose!”

Humans were fascinating. They were often predictable, but many times Rose found them capable of so many unexpected things. The other Gems, wary of their alien planet-mates, often spoke of their destruction, their foolishness, and their less advanced nature. Rose saw them differently; she saw the endless depths of their love, the soaring heights of their ingenuity, and the many times they left her standing in astounded wonder.

When she opened her eyes, she felt that same glittering sensation. A mix of love and hope.

“A house!” She said simply, but it lacked none of the excitement Greg had hoped for. He was leaned up against the realtor’s sign with a grin that reminded her of a young warrior overcoming some insurmountable challenge.

“A sold house, sold—“ Greg stuck his thumb against his chest; “To this guy!”

“You bought a house.” Rose walked down the paved sidewalk to Greg’s side. She took in the sight. It was small, with blue dated siding and thick overgrown strips of garden framing it. She had seen the house before in her many wanderings around Beach City, sitting untouched for so long. She wondered if others had simply not seen how much more it could become. Rose looked to Greg and smiled.

“Yup! Been saving up for a couple months now. Lot’s off odd jobs, you know. Had to sell a lot of my band equipment.” Greg sounded a little embarrassed, but it lasted only a second. He took Rose’s hand and pulled her towards the house with excitement. “Come see the inside!”

 

The house was an empty shell, but Greg was already filling it with ideas. “This will be the living room! We can put my TV there, and I’ve got a buddy whose giving me his old couch. And in there’s the kitchen, we’re lucky the old owners left the fridge. Still works too!”

Rose followed after him, listening and imagining. Her hand traced the back of the non-existent couch. This would be where he’d sit and watch TV with his father. In there they’d eat breakfast, cook dinner together. The walls covered with photos, with captured memories. Her gaze settled on the carpet, and even there should imagine chubby little toes splaying as he took his first steps. 

“Rose!” Greg poked his head from the hallway. “I saved the best for last, you’ve got to—“ The words catching in his throat, suddenly too wracked with stage freight to go on. Rose stood in the middle of the living room, light pouring in from the windows around her, bouncing off her, casting the room in a faint pinkish glow. Greg almost swore he could see things in the light, that the room wasn’t empty at all. It was as if everything he imagined was suddenly tangible. 

Rose looked up and it all faded. All the light went back into her eyes and her smile as she approached him. “I’m sorry, I got caught up in my own thoughts.” She held out her hand for Greg’s, curling her fingers around his with a small squeeze. “It’s wonderful.”

“Well,” Greg brought his free hand up, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “If you liked that so much, you’re going to love this.” He lead her to a room and pushed open the door. Like the rest of the house it was empty. The only thing that filled it was the sunlight pouring through the window that made it seem bright and open.

Rose broke away from Greg to take a step into the room, ducking her head under the shorter door frame. She looked around and felt the resonating joy that this space was just waiting to be filled with. 

Greg stepped up beside her and beamed. “I figure this could be the baby’s room!” He announced, excitement spilling over. “We can put the crib over there, and it’s got plenty of room for a bed when he get’s older.” Rose could see it. She could hear it. A room full of laughter, of happiness, warmed with love, it filled the whole room and spilled past her into the hallway and soon she imagined the house was too full to hold it all in.

“We can put a chair in the corner so you can sit with him.” Greg’s voice filtered back in, and it all spilled out. Rose’s smile faltered. “I figured you’d want to decorate it since you’re way better at that than I am.” She looked at Greg. Sweet, wonderful Greg. 

Had she just forgotten? Did she think somehow it would be different? She had felt it growing inside of her, just like she felt this new, strange life that they had created growing inside her. She had realized it just like she had realized their child would be a little boy. But she’d neglected it. She pushed it down. She had let all of that wonderful, boundless human hope to grow over it like moss to hide away the ugly truths. 

“Rose?” Greg asked, his brows knitting with concern. “I-if you don’t like it we could always-“

The first tear spilt down her cheek, then the next. “Oh Greg.” Her voice did not waver, it was as serene and crystal clear as it always was. Even her smile was as warm and understanding as it always was. The only difference was in her eyes. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

 

 

Greg brought a hand up to wipe the tears from his eyes before the fell. “I guess there was just _too many_ memories.” Too many sad ones, and not nearly enough for all the good memories he’d planned to fill it with. He felt a familiar warmth curl around his hand, smaller this time but no less comforting. He looked down to where Steven stood at his side.

The boy looked up at him, eyes brimming with understanding and hope. Whenever he looked at Steven, he remembered Rose standing there surrounded by all his hopes and dreams. They may have been different than he first imagined, but he hadn’t lost a single one. 

Not really.

He squeezed Steven’s hand.

“C’mon kiddo. What do you say we go get some Pizza?”


End file.
